‘We have a job to do’
Progress has been made in the fight against HIV, but more still needs to be done Unaids executive director Winnie Byanyima said in her speech on World Aids day: “After starting late, today you are making remarkable progress against Aids! More than five million South Africans living with HIV are now on antiretroviral therapy—20% of all the people on treatment in the world. There was a 53% reduction in the number of Aids-related deaths from 2010 to 2018. More than 95% of pregnant women living with HIV are on treatment. HIV incidence declined by 44% between 2012 and 2017. Great progress!”
She added: “But even here in South Africa, with all this progress, we cannot rest, and we are still on a journey. Almost 2.5-million people living with HIV are not yet on treatment. We have a job to do. There are more than 1 400 new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women every week. This is intolerable.”
Byanyima resolved: “So today, on World Aids Day, here in South Africa and around the world, let us commit to overcoming the challenges and barriers we still face. Governments have committed to ending AIDS by 2030. We must keep this promise. But business as usual will not get us there.”
She said that the main focus should be women and girls. She added that there should be protection of human rights, and the end of marginalisation and the “terrible injustice of Aids-related mortality. We need to put the science and technology to work to save lives. The world has spent billions of dollars developing the fastest tests, the best treatment and new prevention technologies, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PREP) and other women-controlled methods”.
She said that without funds this would not have been possible. “We celebrate the commitment of the government of South African for committing nearly $2-billion per year from domestic public resources for HIV. South Africa is a trailblazer for investing in the fight against AIDS. I urge all governments to follow its lead.”
She concluded: “The world has only one year and one month left to reach the 2020 targets. The world has only 11 years to meet its commitment to end the Aids epidemic and reach the Sustainable Development Goals. There is no time to lose. We can do it.”